The invention relates to an electronic balance. More particularly, the invention relates to an electronic balance that has a housing, a weighing scale, a windshield which at least partially surrounds the weighing scale, and a display and operating unit which is connected with the balance housing.
Balances of this type are generally known and are described, for instance, in German Patent reference DE 35 08 873.
A drawback of this known embodiment is that the heat generated in the display and operating unit can freely penetrate into the balance housing. The same applies to the pivotable display and operating unit described in German Patent document DE 39 39 959. There, too, the heat can flow directly via a swivel arm into the balance housing and the weighing space surrounded by the windshield, since, for stability reasons, the swivel arm is generally made of metal.
To circumvent this heat problem, it is further generally known to accommodate the display and operating unit in a separate housing from the rest of the balance and to connect it only with a data cable. This solution is ideal with respect to heat transfer, provided that the operator of the balance leaves a sufficiently large space between the display and operating unit and the rest of the balance, but it has the drawback of requiring additional plugs and cable connections and complicating handling when the balance has to be moved to another site.
Thus, one object of the invention is to provide a balance of the type described above, in which the display and operating unit is connected directly with the balance and which nevertheless suppresses heat transfer from the display and operating unit to the rest of the balance as much as possible.
According to one formulation, the invention is directed to an electronic balance that includes: a housing; a weighing scale; a windshield that at least partially surrounds the weighing scale; a display and operating unit which is connected with the housing; a connecting part between the display and operating unit and the housing that consists essentially of a material with poor heat conduction properties; and at least one vertical radiation protection plate provided between the display and operating unit and the housing.
Aspects of the invention thus include making the connecting part between the display and operating unit and the housing of a material with poor heat conduction properties, providing at least one vertical radiation protection plate between the display and operating unit and the housing, and configuring the connecting part between the display and operating unit and the housing in such a way that air convection on either sides of the radiation protection plate(s) is impaired as little as possible.
Thus, if all of the inventive aspects are used in combination, not only is heat conduction between the display and operating unit and the housing reduced, but heat radiation is also shielded, and cooling of the radiation protection plate(s) is made possible by air convection. It should be noted, however, that the invention encompasses a wide range of embodiments, in which, inter alia, any of the inventive aspects are used either alone or in any combination with other aspects of the invention.